Behind the design

The Royal Mint’s Shēngxiào Collection combines centuries of Chinese tradition with British minting craftsmanship, celebrating the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Each animal has their own unique characteristics and qualities and this year is the Lunar Year of the Rooster! The rooster is the fourth animal in The Shēngxiào Collection to be brought to life … Read more…

Since 2012 The Royal Mint has struck a special Remembrance Day Alderney £5 Coin each year featuring the poppy – a widely recognised symbol of remembrance – to honour servicemen and women who have lost their lives in times of war. For 2016, the poppy wreath takes centre stage on a coin designed by Royal Mint designer and … Read more…

In 1914, as Britain mobilised for war, the call went out to enlist. The response to Lord Kitchener’s call to arms was astonishing, with much of the whole country swept by patriotic fervour. Team mates, friends, neighbours and colleagues were encouraged to serve side-by-side in ‘Pals Battalions’, proudly defending their country; a recruitment tactic that, while highly … Read more…

London in 1666 was very different to the city we know today. Wooden structures rather than soaring skyscrapers made up most of the homes and businesses in the capital, one of the main reasons why a small fire, which notoriously began in a bakery in Pudding Lane, went on to rage across the city. Can you … Read more…

Throughout 2016, The Royal Mint has been celebrating the wonderful world of Beatrix and her most-loved characters, marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Beatrix Potter. Earlier this year, we announced that we would be marking the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Beatrix Potter with a series of five coins, the first time that characters from children’s … Read more…

We are now a week in to this year’s Olympic Games, which continue at pace, with the medal tally beginning to stack up for Team GB. As I write this, Team GB have accumulated 13 medals with plenty more events to come over the next few weeks. In fact, by the time the Games close on 21 August, more than … Read more…

As we get ready to bid a fond farewell to a coin that has earned a place in our hearts, pockets and history, the ’round’ pound, we celebrate the artistry that has featured on the coin for the last thirty-three years across twenty-five designs.

Gregory Cameron, a Bishop of the Anglican Church in North East Wales, is a keen amateur artist and coin collector and it’s his design that features on the commemorative last ’round pound’. For his design, Gregory drew inspiration from heraldic beasts and the Royal Arms, to incorporate the four nations – each represented by their national heraldic beast, standing proud. On his recent trip to The Royal Mint, we caught up with Gregory to find out a little more about his inspiration for his last ’round pound’ design.

With Chinese New Year just around the corner, we caught up with Wuon-Gean Ho, designer of The Royal Mint’s Shēngxiào UK Lunar Coin collection, to find out more about her Year of the Monkey coin design. This is now the third coin Wuon-Gean has designed for the Lunar coin collection, so we also took the opportunity to find out more about the lino cutting technique that she uses to create her designs.

June 2015 marked the 200th anniversary of one of the greatest and most decisive battles in European history – the Battle of Waterloo. Fought on 18 June 1815, the Battle of Waterloo saw British and allied forces, led by The Duke of Wellington, defeat the French army, led by Napoleon Bonaparte. The battle lasted just one day, however it was part of a larger assault on Europe by Napoleon that led to a catastrophic loss of life. The eventual allied victory at Waterloo brought to an end the Napoleonic wars and over 20 years of conflict in Europe. The 200th anniversary of this significant battle is marked on the 2015 UK £5 coin, which was released earlier this year.

On 15 September 1940 the German Luftwaffe launched a massive assault on Britain that it believed would pave the way for a successful invasion and bring an end to the Battle of Britain. However, a day of intense fighting saw the Germans suffer their highest losses since the ‘Hardest Day’, 18 August. It was an overwhelming defeat for the Luftwaffe and the action on 15 September would ultimately bring to an end the Battle of Britain. For this reason the day became known and celebrated in the United Kingdom as ‘Battle of Britain Day‘.

Ahead of the 75th anniversary of Battle of Britain Day, we caught up with the designers of the Battle of Britain 50p, Gary and Lee Breeze, at IWM Duxford, to find out more about their inspiration and how it felt to design the coin to mark this significant anniversary.

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